Dream Lessons
by aries03
Summary: Learning from our dreams can be more important than we realize. Jack's POV. Eventual Jack/Sam pairing, of course. A lighter, shorter story line than my last story.
1. Chapter 1

He couldn't believe that Siler was actually throwing a pool-side barbecue for the members of the SGC

He couldn't believe that Siler was actually throwing a pool-side barbecue for the members of the SGC. Heck, he had worked along side the man for eight years, and he didn't even know the Siler had a pool. It was definitely interesting, but the sun was warm, the sky was clear, and he might as well try to enjoy himself with his subordinates. Hey, look, there was SG-1 playing water volleyball. Oh, the game must be over. They are starting to get out of the pool. Carter must have been the only one of that group to see him enter through the side gate. She nodded and swam to his end. Boy, did his heart ever skip a beat then. Had he seriously never seen Carter in a bathing suit? She was wearing this blue bikini number that fit her curves perfectly. He couldn't help but notice; he wasn't a saint. Didn't she know better than to wear something that made her look so gosh darn stunning to a work barbecue? Of course she didn't because she was too modest to think she could look so gosh darn stunning. He raised an eyebrow and handed her a towel.

"Carter."

"Sir."

He pointed to the volleyball net in a vain attempt to get his mind on a different topic as she thankfully wrapped the towel around her waist.

"Playing a little volleyball, are we?"

"Yeah, and actually, SG-1 kicked SG-4's butts."

"I wouldn't expect it any other way."

"Did you just get here, sir?"

"Yeah."

"You do realize that the party started an hour and a half ago, right?"

"You're point?"

"Right."

They stood there in silence for a moment, each used to the underlying awkwardness that had developed between them. Softly, she used her hand to shake out some of the water from her hair and give it that just-out-of-bed look she wears so well.

"Teal'c had never playing volleyball before. He was an animal."

"You don't say?"

He gently put his hand on the small of her back to guide her towards the others.

……………….

It was then that he awoke from the dream he was having. To say that he was disappointed would be an understatement. To be honest, he had been having the same dream, with different variations, for the past month. He attributed it to missing his friends and, like always, didn't try to add anything to it. It had been three months since he had left the SGC to go to Washington so was only natural that he would miss his friends. _Yeah, that has to be the explanation. _

He looked over at his clock. 6pm. Good. He had time for a quick shower before he had to pick her up. Her name was Melissa, and he had met her in a coffee shop down the road yesterday morning. She wasn't exactly his normal type, but he hadn't been seeing anyone since Kerry had left him and realized that there really wasn't a valid excuse to not try to find someone new.

The sound of the phone ringing caused a sense of dread to spread through his body. _This better not be work when I'm about to get ready to go out_. He used his one hand to rub his eyes in an annoyed manner as he picked up the phone with the other.

"General O'Neill speaking."

"Hey, sir."

He would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Carter."

"Is this a bad time?"

"Never. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Well, we haven't talked in awhile, sir. I just thought that maybe you would like to know that I have decided to leave SG-1."

"Excuse me?"

"I have accepted reassignment to Area 51."

"And what in blazes would cause you to do that?"

"I have been asked to help work on making the hyperdrive engines of the _Daedalus_ functional."

"Ah. I see."

Jack's heart dropped slightly when she told him how the rest of the team had moved on as well. He supposed it had always been only a matter of time. SG-1 wouldn't remain the same forever, but he had hoped that things could have worked out differently. The rest of the conversation was brief. As he put the phone back on the receiver, he realized that he was no longer in the mood to go on his date. _Oh well_. He determined that it might be a good distraction for the evening and stepped into the shower.

……………..

To say that the date wasn't going well would be a dramatic understatement. This time, he was actually kind of relieved when he heard his cellphone ringing. As he checked the caller id, he held up a finger to let her know that he had to take the call.

"George, ol' pal. Hold on just a sec, would ya?"

He shrugged his shoulders, pointed at his phone, and left the table for somewhere more private. As he returned to the table afterwards, he could tell that she was pissed.

"Don't you think that it's a little rude to be taking personal phone calls when you are out with someone?"

"Uh, no. That was work. I _had_ to take the phone call."

"And what do you do for a living that is so important it has to interrupt dinner?"

_Who does this lady think she is?_

"Air force. Home-world security."

"And that is?"

"Classified."

"There you go. You military types are always spouting off that things are classified. Well you said for yourself that it has to do with security, so what right do you have to keep anything classified…."

_Ok. This is not going to work._ He flagged down the waiter.

"Check please."


	2. Chapter 2

He was in Siler's yard again

He was in Siler's yard again. The smell of charred meat from the grill was mouth-watering. There was a slight chill in the air on this particular afternoon, though. As he made his way through the crowd, he couldn't help but notice that it looked like a storm was heading their way. In the deserted back corner of the yard, he spotted a familiar and friendly face.

"Carter."

"Sir."

"How are you doing this fine afternoon?"

"Good."

"Did you just get here, sir?"

"Yeah."

"You do realize that the party started over an hour ago, right?"

"And?"

"Right."

Just then, the clouds opened up. He quickly grabbed her and moved her underneath the roof of the small gazebo, but she was already drenched. His breath quickly caught in his throat as he noticed how parts of her shirt had become see-through. He wasted no time in slinging his jacket around her shoulders. She nimbly smiles.

…………………

He bolts upright in bed. Okay, these dreams were starting to get more and more graphic. This has to stop. He looked over at his clock. 7am. As he grabs the phone from the receiver, he hoped that he wasn't going to wake anybody up. Luckily, the person on the other line seemed unusually awake at this hour.

"Hello?"

"Danny boy. Nice to hear your voice."

"Jack?"

"Yeah. Hey, I have a question for you."

"Um, ok."

"Do you know anything about interpreting dreams?"

"Slightly. Teal'c was more into that than I ever was, but I've read a thing or two on the matter. Why?"

"I've been having this dream over and over again. Well, okay. It's not the exact same dream, but it has the same basic story line."

"Ok. Well, what's it about?"

"There's the barbecue at Siler's. I, of course, show up late in my usual fashion and run into Carter. In the earlier dreams, you all were there in the background, so I thought that it must be the fact that I just missed you guys…"

"Well, that's nice to hear."

"Yeah, well, then I had this dream last night where it was just Carter."

"Ok, and what is Sam doing exactly?"

"Well, in the dream last night, it was raining. Her t-shirt started becoming see-through, so I threw my jacket over her. The dream I had before that one had her in this very nice blue bikini…"

"OK, Jack, do you want to know what I think?"

"Would I have called you if I didn't?"

"You aren't going to like it."

"Daniel…"

"Ok. Ok. I think the fact that you show up late to the barbecue every time isn't just signifying your usual style. I think it means that you are late at something in your life. I think you should call Sam."

"That's it? That's all you're going to say?"

"I'll talk to you later, Jack."

"Daniel…"

The phone line went dead. Daniel hung up. Jack just grumbled as he crawled out of bed. There would be no more sleeping this morning, but it was Saturday. What to do with the day? _Ah, yes. Coffee and the Simpsons_.

He made his way down to the little coffee shop down the street, bought a regular coffee and a scone, and made his way down to a small table in back. Unfortunately, as would happen with Murphy's Law, his hiding did not work and someone walked over. _Ugh_.

"Is someone sitting there?"

"Not particularly."

"Well, can I sit down?"

"If you must."

Jack could see the surprise written all over the woman's face. She must have been used to guys flaunting over her. She was gorgeous.

"Ok, thank you. I must admit, I normally don't do this type of thing. It's just that's there's this guy who comes in here every morning and flirts with me. I cannot stand the man, and I just wanted him to think that I was seeing someone else."

Ok, so he was wrong.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. He's one of those scientist types, you know."

"You know, nine years ago I would have agreed with you, but now, one of my closest friends is actually a theoretical astrophysicist."

"And you have an interest in theoretical astrophysics?"

"Um, no. Well, truthfully, I just love hearing _her_ have an interest in it. She gets this little gleam in her eyes, and you would swear that the happiness is just going to boil over. Plus, I mean, no offense, but this woman is way smarter than you and I combined."

_What was he doing? Why was he spurting out information to random strangers now?_

"Oh, so I see, you don't have an interest in scientists…just this one in particular. So why aren't you having coffee with her?"

"She's in Nevada."

"Oh, you so have to go after her. It doesn't take someone as smart as she apparently is to see that you have some major feelings for her."

Jack was doing his best to not think about what this woman just said. As a man walks out the door of the coffee shop, the woman gets up to leave.

"Well, nice talking to you. Good luck."

_Yeah sure._


	3. Chapter 3

He was back in Siler's yard again, but this time was completely different

He was back in Siler's yard again, but this time was completely different. The crowd had dwindled greatly. He couldn't spot any of the members of SG-1. It was Siler that came to greet him this time, not Carter.

"Sir."

"Siler."

"You're a little late. Most of the people went home already."

"Oh."

"Sam seemed irritated. She said that she had been waiting for you, and you didn't show up."

"She did?"

"Yeah."

……………..

He bolted upright in bed once more, his palms sweaty. If Daniel was right, and this had something to do with Carter, then what did it mean when Carter was no longer there? That couldn't be good. He couldn't lose Carter like that. In a frazzled mess, which he didn't really like being in, he grabbed the phone. He heart was racing when he heard it ringing but fell when he heard it go to voicemail.

"Hi. You have reached Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter. If I'm not answering, then I'm probably still at the office. Just leave me a message, and I'll just have to give you a call back."

He quickly slammed the phone down when he realized that he couldn't leave a message when he didn't know what to say. His heart jumped back up into his throat when he heard the phone instantly start to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, sir. You called?"

"Uh, how did you know I called, Carter?"

"Caller id. Did you need something?"

He was speechless. He voice literally got caught in his vocal cords.

"Sir?"

"Oh, sorry. No. Didn't need anything. Just calling to say hi."

"Ok."

"Hi. Okay, I said it. Goodbye."

He slammed the phone down once more. He knew the she must be thinking he's lost his mind, but he just couldn't say what he needed to over the phone. He knew what he had to do.

…….

As he walked down the terminal to the plane, he almost turned around twice. He wasn't sure he could do what needed to be done. For eight years, he did what he had to do to keep their relationship professional. Now, how could he just change that way of thinking?

……

He exited the airport in Nevada at 3pm on Monday. He was tired but determined. Okay, so maybe he shouldn't have called Area 51, using his credentials, and stating that he needed to see the progress being made on the _Daedalus_. However, he saw no other way. The whole phone conversation didn't work out well last time.

He saw her immediately as he walked towards the _Daedalus_. She was standing there, clipboard in hand, pointing something out to another colonel. He just stood there watching and couldn't help but think about how she used to do that with him. As she glanced up from her clipboard, their eyes met. Okay, she was shocked. He couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Okay. She started to walk over.

"Sir. I wasn't expecting you. Does this have something to do with your strange phone call yesterday?"

_Okay. Speechless again_.

"Sir? Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Okay. It's just…God, it's good to see you, Carter."

"It's good to see you, too, sir. Um, if you give me a couple minutes, I was just finishing up for the day. We could go get pizza or something."

"Yeah, okay."

_Get it together, Jack. This isn't high school. _

……..

An hour later, they were sitting in a booth waiting for their pizza. He hadn't said much. He didn't know how to start. Luckily, she started the conversation for him.

"Daniel called me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. So you were having dreams about me?"

"He told you that? That dirty little rascal. That's the last time I call him for anything."

"Well, the truth is that he called me for a very good reason. The thing is that I had called him two days prior to you telling him about the dreams I was having about you."

"You were having dreams about me?"

"Yeah."

"Weird."

"Yeah."

They sat in silence once more. This wasn't the easiest conversation to have with someone who has been your best friend, and only your best friend, for eight years.

"Jack?"

"Yeah."

"Do we have to have this conversation right now?"

He just raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I think we both know it all already. I just want to enjoy your company for awhile."

"Sure."

_Anything to be with you._


	4. Chapter 4

Jack was no longer in Siler's backyard

This time around, Jack was no longer in Siler's backyard. He was on a foreign planet; he did not recognize the place, but it was obvious a Goa'uld attack had just ended. Bodies were lying everywhere. Only two remained alive, himself and Carter. He was kneeling on the ground, holding her head in his life, and he could tell by the uneven breathes that she wasn't doing well.

"Carter. Hang in there. We'll get through this."

"Not this time, sir."

"Carter, please don't talk like that. You have to make it through this. You just have to."

"So cold, sir. Can't hold on much longer."

Her eyes closed, and the jagged breathing came to a hold. Tears were flowing down his cheek.

"No, don't leave me. Carter, you can't leave me now…"

…………..

He was awakened by Sam, desperately trying to get him to calm down. He could feel the beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he bolted upright on the couch where he was spending the night.

"Jack, it's ok. It was just a nightmare. You're safe."

He grabbed onto her and pulled her close. _I need to have her close_.

"Don't leave me, Carter."

"No, I won't leave you. I'll stay here as long as you need me to."

"No, don't leave me…ever. I dreamed that I had lost you. I don't want to lose you. I love you too much."

He could tell that she understood. A look of empathy spread across her face.

"I've been having a similar nightmare for the past week. It's always the same one. I'm trapped in a fortress, like Ba'al's, and I just sit there waiting for you. Every night it ends by the guards hauling me down the long hallway while I look back with regret. That was until tonight. Tonight, I had a dream where I did something about it. I fought back with the guards and went to go find you instead."

He gasped as she leaned down and kissed his lips ever so softly. After the dream he just had, he wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and show her his love, but he knew that this was something that was going to have to go slow. He let it remain as just a soft kiss. _I love her too much._

"Come on, Jack."

He accepted her hand and let her lead him down the hall to the bedroom. He knew that there was nothing implied, and he wasn't disappointed. They laid down together and just held each other tight as they drifted off to sleep. Nothing else needed to be said.

That night, for the first time in a long time, they both had happy dreams.

The end.


End file.
